Destinations in Hokkaido

Hokkaido

Hokkaido is an island at Japan's northern extremity, surrounded by sea in all directions. It is an extensive land, accounting for 22% of Japan's total land area. Low humidity makes the summers pleasant, while in winter you can enjoy winter sports. The island is gaining popularity as a tourist destination throughout the four seasons.In Hokkaido you can enjoy the magnificence of nature to your heart's content: Daisetsu-zan National Park, which forms the roof of Hokkaido; the secluded Shiretoko-hanto Peninsula; Kushiro Marsh, home to many precious living things such as Japanese cranes; Shikotsu-Toya National Park, which is full of volcanoes and lakes; and the ever-changing Shakotan-kaigan Coast. There are also numerous hot springs, like the Noboribetsu-onsen, Jozan-kei-onsen and Soun-kyo-onsen, where you can enjoy a leisurely bath to help you get over the fatigue of your journey.

The Sapporo Snow-matsuri Festival and Monbetsu Ice Floes-matsuri Festival are held in winter. In summer enjoy the Furano Lavender-matsuri Festival, as well as port festivals in every coastal town held to pray for a good catch and safe fishing. Hokkaido boasts of over 1,200 festivals and events held throughout the year.

Mt.Daisetsu collectively means the mountains around Mt.Asahi and some mountains near Asahikawa. Mt.Daisetsu is famous for alpine plants. I had 3 days mountain trip which going through Mt.Asahi, Mt.Hakuun, Mt.Chubetsu, Mt.Tomuraushi and Mt.Kaun. It's a traverse route from North to South in Mt.Daisetsu.According to local hikers, much snow still remains in the mountains this year. There're many hikers around Ohachidaira and Mt.Hakuun, but few hikers who go toward Mt.Tomuraushi. Actually I saw...

Day 2: 札幌 - 北滝町 「ひまわりの里」 - Biei (美瑛) Pension JacatraWe spent day one of our trip mostly on the flight from Hong Kong to Japan. We arrived Sapporo quite late in the evening. The Summer Hokkaido trip literally begun on Day two.
We booked a 8-seater Honda Stepwagon from ORIX. The Sapporo branch was very close to the hotel we stayed in Sapporo and it's just several streets north to Sapporo JR...

Day 7: Lake Hill Farm - 昭和新山 It's the second day we stayed at the Lake Toyo region. The original plan was to take the lake cruise to 中島 and to go to several tourist spots in the region. The weather was however dull and dark on the day. We had a leisure walk in the morning on the lake side near our hotel. There were lots of statues with various themes along the promenade....

We got waken up in the middle of the night by rain drops. We hustled to cramp our bags into the tiny space by the tent, and then crawled into the sleeping bag again.Some Japanese women met Mei in the kitchen and gave us some rice for breakfast. Highway 12 was very busy and narrow at some parts. Luckily, we discovered a bike path behind a suspension bridge. The path was flat...